This 2024 New Year’s Resolution Reading Comprehension PDF might get through to your Middle School students…

It’s sarcastic. It’s witty. It’s here.

Here’s a FUNNY New Year’s Resolution Activity for Middle School and High School students.

Is this a motivational letter? Or an anti-motivational letter?

• Read the “anti-motivational” motivational letter
• Reading Comprehension Questions (2 pages)
• Point of View / Media Literacy Questions (2 pages)
• Was this written by ChatGPT?
• Should ChatGPT be allowed in School? (debate lesson)
• Just because I say I didn’t copy ChatGPT, doesn’t me that I didn’t plagiarize

Lots of people think of New Year’s Resolutions as a joke.

(Actually, lot of people think of goal setting in general as wishy-washy. After all, we try to set goals, they don’t come true. Therefore goal setting doesn’t work. Right?)

So, here’s a 2024 New Year’s Resolution worksheet to use with your Middle School students in January 2024. (Or February… depending on when you find this webpage.)

Think of it from a Social-Emotional Learning skills perspective:

The real benefit of trying to keep New Year’s Resolutions is to build resilience

Trying to stick to that New Year’s goal create opportunities to level up our ability to bounce back (quicker) when we get knocked down.

(Read more in the introduction letter)

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2024!!!

Chances are, you’re panicking about what to teach the first week back in 2024. The Sunday Scaries are always worse after you’re coming back from a break.

January is a chance to reboot your classroom. It’s a fresh start.

Hopefully, you get a chance to relax and recharge over the upcoming winter holidays.

Here’s a free, quick, and easy writing activity that you can do with your older elementary students, middle school students, and high school students.

It’s perfect for the last few days of school in 2023 or the first days in 2024!

All you have to do is print the PDF and give it to your students.

Psst. You also get a Google Doc version and a Microsoft WORD version so you can edit the handouts and the rubric to fit your specific classroom needs and teaching style.

And, for those of you who use Easel by TpT, you get that version as well!

The handouts will walk you through the brainstorming process and help your students write a paragraph about a New Year’s Resolution.

New Year’s Resolution 2024 Free Lesson Overview:

1. Use this 2024 New Year Resolution Worksheet with your class. Print the handout package and teach. (Or, use the distance online learning version!)
2. Show this quick 2 minute New Year’s Resolution Motivational Video to encourage them to JUST START!
3. Use this Goal Setting for Students Slideshow lesson to walk them through how to work harder, and not smarter.
4. Every day, show a different goal setting video from this YouTube play list.
5. Look at the complete lesson plan below for more info.

• New Year’s Resolution PDF Worksheet
  • Worksheet #1: GOODBYE 2023!
  • Worksheet #2: HELLO 2024!
  • Worksheet #3: My New Year’s Resolution
  • Worksheet #4: My New year’s resolution – written paragraph.
  • Worksheet #5: My New Year’s Resolution – rubric

• Any time Personal Resolution PDF Worksheet
  • Worksheet #1: GOODBYE PAST!
  • Worksheet #2: HELLO FUTURE!
  • Worksheet #3: Brainstorm HOW to achieve your goal
  • Worksheet #4: Goal – written paragraph
  • Worksheet #5: Paragraph Writing Rubric

• First Week of School – New Year’s Resolution (lesson plan)

• Sample New Year Resolutions
  • Examples of 2024 New Year Resolutions for Students
    • Student Resolutions about Character
  • Examples of 2024 New Year Resolutions for Teachers

This year, I will ___________________________________ .

Students then fill out the mind web graphic organizer and fill out thought bubbles to different prompts to help them think more about their goal:

• Describe what you want to improve.
• What can you do to improve this situation? Why will these actions were?
• How will doing this make your life better? What would feel like if you achieve the school?

Pro tip: all of the prompts on this graphic organizer can be edited in the Google Doc or the Microsoft Word document.

What is your goal?

• Describe what you want to improve.
• Describe what you can do to improve the situation and how this will help.
• Explain how doing this resolution will make your life better and explain what it will feel like if you achieve this goal.
• Summarize your goal.

For younger students…

• you might decide this to do this as a class writing activity.

For older elementary students and middle school students…

• this might be an opportunity to assess paragraph writing skills.

For older middle school students and high school students…

• you might modify this to become a five paragraph essay.

Ideas

• You answered all of the guiding questions. You very clearly explain your New Year’s resolution with strong support.
• You answered all the guiding questions. Your New Year’s resolution is clear and you have good support.
• You tried to answer the guiding questions. Your paragraph is a little bit confusing because there’s not enough support or there are irrelevant details.
• You answered few of the guiding questions. There really isn’t a central idea in your paragraph. There’s not enough support or there are too many irrelevant details.

Organization

• Your writing is effectively organized in a logical manner that really prove your point. Your ideas flow very well. You have an engaging introduction linked to your conclusion.
• Your writing is organized and guides the reader through your support. Your ideas flow well. You have a clear introduction and summarize your point in your conclusion
• The organization of your paragraph is mechanical. You have a list of facts or ideas that are not well connected. Your introduction or conclusion may not be well developed or make sense.
• There isn’t a clear sense of direction with your ideas. Your ideas are loosely or randomly strung together. Ineffective or missing introduction and conclusion

Writing Conventions (capitalization, grammar usage, punctuation, spelling)

• You have strong mastery of standard writing conventions. There may be a few errors due to experimentation.
• You have good control of writing conventions. The work is generally correct.
• There are several errors… but they don’t interfere with the readability
• There are many errors… I have trouble reading your paragraph.

A New Year resolution for students is a chance to start fresh in 2024.

But, let’s be honest. Most of us (including me) won’t achieve our New Year goals.

Does that mean we should wait until January 2024 to set any goals?

Of course, not.

We can choose to improve starting today. (The hard part is choosing to try to improve.)

Here’s a free lesson plan to help your students figure out goals to work on in January.

Sometimes, the hardest part of writing is coming up with something to write about.

So, I’ve given a few examples of New Year’s resolutions for students and teachers.

This New Year’s resolution writing activity can be as hands-on or hands-off as you wanted to be.

Day 1: Setting New Year’s Resolution Worksheet

OPTION 1: Give your students the New Year’s Resolution PDF handout package.

• Print the 2024 New Year Resolution handouts package
• Students fill out the worksheet.
• Done.

OPTION 2: Provide more structure in your class and guide students through each page of the handout.

Here’s are some ideas for a quick and easy New Years Resolution lesson plan:

• Start with some teacher-modeled writing. Do a think aloud about a New Year Resolution that you would do as a teacher. (See resolution examples below to get the conversation going)
• Do some shared writing. As a class, read through each page of the handout package. The class does the thinking and generates answers through a whole class discussion. The teacher does the writing on the board for the class. (Later on, when students are doing the independent work, if they get stuck, they can just use some ideas from the class conversation.
• Think-pair-share. Students work in smaller groups or partners to brainstorm obstacles from 2023 and ways to overcome these challenges. The class then comes back together to share ideas as a larger group.
• Students do independent writing. Now that we have a few examples as a class, students work independently and fill out their handout with their own ideas.
• Depending on the writing abilities of your students, the availability of support teachers, or how well your students can work independently, you might also choose to do guided writing where you work in a small homogeneous group of students and do a targeted lesson.

Watch the New Year’s Resolution Motivational Video: 1. Just Start

Watch the SEOT Step to Success 1: Just Start video and discuss.

1. According to this video, what stops people from achieving their goals or New Year’s resolutions?
2. Why do you think those obstacles stop people from even trying?
3. How might this strategy help people to achieve their goal or New Year’s resolutions?
4. Why might this strategy not help people to achieve their goals?

https://youtu.be/v4DGKdQeTK0

Day 2-5: SMART Goal Setting Slideshow

Use this 100 slide Social-Emotional Learning Goal Setting slideshow lesson to teach your students HOW to work smarter, and not harder.

The Ultimate Guide to Achieving your Goals and Dreams

• What is a goal?

Part 1: Choose a Goal

Part 2: Why?

Part 3: Making SMART goals

Part 4: How do you Achieve your SMART Goal?

Part 5: Check-In on your Goals

Part 6: The Goal Setting Wheel of Success

Part 7: What Does Work Smarter Actually Mean?

Here’s a second SEOT Step to Success video on YouTube that you can show your class

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBvKcUGVEJ4&list=PLKhRN2O8Viye-syoQCEVsHUxUeOPxyfFd&index=2

55 Examples of 2024 New Year Resolutions for Students

This year I’m going to…

1. Read a new book once a month
2. Spend 10 minutes every night reviewing my notes
3. Ask more (or less) questions in class.
4. Say hi to a new person every day
5. Eat lunch with a different person every day
6. Try a new sport
7. Hang out at a different spot at recess
8. Use my agenda more
9. Come up with a way to remember due dates
10. Get to class on time
11. Go to class prepared with paper and pencils and all of my notes
12. Try harder in gym/phys ed
13. Check in on my New Year Resolution goals once a week (or even better, once a day) to give me the best chance of succeeding
14. Try to stay 2m away from my friends while I’m at school
15. Wash my hands (instead of just splashing water.)
16. Listen first when I’m having a conversation with someone (instead of just sharing my ideas.)
17. Raise my hand once per class to give an answer.
18. Set aside homework time every day (and then actually work during that time. And, if I don’t have any work, then review my notes.)
19. Use a calendar or agenda to write down homework.
20. Try something new
21. Choose to be brave
22. Wonder. Just pause for a moment and wonder.
23. Put away the technology an hour before bed.

Student resolutions about Character

Here are some New Year’s resolutions for students to help them work on Character and a Growth Mindset . (Psst. Here are some lesson plans about Character and teaching a Growth Mindset!)

This year, I’m going to…

24. remind myself that how good I am at something is based on how hard I work (and not what I was born with.)
25. Try to be better than who I was yesterday.
26. Live life as though every day was a fresh start. I don’t have to be who I was yesterday.
27. Try three times to restart my attitude when something goes bad (and try to find a bright side to the situation.)
28. Try to not give up when things get tough by really trying three different things to solve a problem before I ask for help.
29. Remind myself that I don’t have to constantly prove that I’m perfect (or the smartest/strongest/talented in the room.) If I make a mistake, it means that I can learn and become even better.
30. Raise my hand and answer a teacher’s question at least once a day. (I may get the wrong answer, but I’m here to learn and grow better and the sooner I figure out my answer is wrong, the sooner I can try to figure out what the right answer is.)
31. Try to choose to be in a growth mindset. Success is not based on what I was born with, but instead, success is based on how hard I work, how open I am to learning from my mistakes, how much I practice and train, and how often I don’t give up.
32. Try to wonder how my mistakes and failure could be a good thing. Learning comes from failure so I need to think about what went wrong and what I could do differently next time.
33. Try something else (a different strategy) when things don’t work (instead of just trying harder.)
34. Do one thing at a time and focus on doing that task really well.
35. Set a timer to remind myself to do my homework. I’m going to set aside 15 minutes every night to review my notes.
36. Review instructions when I don’t understand something. I’m going to reread the handout slowly to see what I missed.
37. Restart when I get frustrated or I can’t figure out the answer. (Sometimes a fresh start can help me see something that I didn’t see before.)
38. Fail three times before I give up.
39. Find a way to use the pain of hardship or failure to motivate myself to keep going
40. Do things that other people aren’t willing to do. (That’s how you be extraordinary. Extra – ordinary.)
41. Wake up early to do the important stuff.
42. Work harder than the competition.
43. Choose my attitude. This means when things go wrong (or things go right), I take a moment to think about two or three different ways that I could feel about the situation. I can’t always control what happens to me. But I can learn to control my attitude.
44. Figure out how failing is critical to your personal growth. The more I try (legit try as opposed to fake try) and fail, the more opportunities I have to grow.
45. Take it one step at a time (when things get tough.)
46. Tell myself that is not over for me. I can pick myself up and keep going.
47. Do things more from the heart.
48. Live in the moment. This means thinking about what’s happening now (as opposed to always worrying or planning about the future.)
49. Appreciate what I have. Find one thing to be thankful for every day.
50. Work when I don’t want to.
51. Take a risk.
52. Have faith.
53. Believe in yourself.
54. Believe that you are okay.
55. Take a chance and follow my passion.

25 Examples of 2024 New Year Resolutions for Teachers

1. Go to sleep on time
2. Stop procrastinating
3. Show up to duty on time
4. Be positive at staff meetings or speak up at staff meetings
5. Say no. (It’s okay to say no. As good teachers we get caught up with helping everyone, everywhere. – It’s okay to set boundaries about what you can do or help out with over the school year. Be assertive and say no!)
6. Keep up on the marking pile
7. Mark less. Not everything needs a grade.
8. Smile more (especially at the photocopier)
9. Don’t sweat the small stuff
10. Photocopy less
11. Clean up my desk a little bit every day
12. Communicate with parents more – send home sunshine information instead of only when there’s a problem
13. Keep on top of my marking
14. Finish my report cards on time
15. Spend time with friends more
16. Park 10 minutes away from school so I have to walk
17. Only stay ____ min after the day ends (or whatever time is reasonable for you.)
18. Make sure tomorrow’s lesson is ready before I leave school the day before
19. Leave the school work at school.
20. Go to the staff room and actually eat lunch with people
21. Avoid the staff room because people vent in there (and it’s a toxic environment.)
22. Drink more water.
23. Use the bathroom more.
24. Remind yourself you don’t need to be perfect – especially since we have all of these distance learning digital tools that we have to figure out!
25. Ask for help.
26. Offer help to someone before they ask.
27. Be aware of your mental health. So many of us are burning out right now – especially now that we have to do so much more in our jobs!

Using a 2024 New Year’s Resolutions worksheet is a great way to start the new year. That’s because most of us think of January as a fresh start.

But we can set goals at any time.

Here’s a FREE no-prep goal setting worksheet for your students that will walk them through the brainstorming process. You can also modify the Google Docs or the Microsoft Word docs for your specific needs.

Study skills are more than just how to study. It’s about HOW to set goals and figuring out the “WHY” behind why we need to achieve this goal. It’s about the BIG PICTURE.

I may know HOW to study, but if I’m not motivated, or I’m just told I have to study, it may not mean anything. Achieving goals (like studying for a hard test) takes EFFORT so you need a solid “WHY” to pull you through.

Help students set New Year’s Resolutions for 2024, study goals, or any sort of Personal Resolutions (goals), any time of the year using this FREE writing assignment.

BONUS GOAL SETTING PERSONAL RESOLUTION HANDOUT

• I added a generic, works-any-time-of-the-year Personal Resolutions (goal setting) version of the 2024 New Year’s Resolution handout.
• We don’t have to wait until the New Year to set goals and improve. This FREE writing assignment helps students recognize that they can choose to get better starting today! 
• This Personal Resolutions handout is the exact same activity as the New Year’s 2024 Resolutions handout with a few minor changes.
• The handouts are identical on purpose. The point is, we can set goals anytime in the year. At the start of the school year or semester. After you get back a major assignment or report card. And yes, after New Year’s Eve!

I made this New Year’s Resolutions worksheet two years ago.

And, I kept up with my goals for a few weeks.

Then, I failed.

And even though, I could have re-started, I didn’t.

Now, if the guy making this free New Year’s Resolutions worksheet activity failed, what does that mean for you?

Nothing. You do you.

Whether or not, I fail or you fail (or lots of people fail their New Year’s goals) says nothing about your ability to achieve your goal next time.

But, chances are, if you do the same thing that you did last time, you’ll probably get a similar result.

Stay tuned. This post is a work in progress.

For now, just get the free worksheet package.

Here’s the rest of my post from 2020.

By the way, we’re also having a BONUS “I already failed my New Year’s Resolution” CONTEST (until Feb 14, 2019):

• To celebrate failure, and picking ourselves back up, I’m having a contest for people who downloaded/download this resource.
• This resource has been downloaded thousands of times! I’d like to find out what these people teach so I can make more resources for those grades and subjects!
• Enter the contest, and you could win 1 of 5 Educircles 21st Century MEGA Bundles!
• Read this part to find out 2 easy things to do to ENTER THE CONTEST!
• Read this part for contest specifics, details, terms, etc, etc, etc

By the way, this new year’s resolution 2024 handout won’t help most of your students achieve their goals.

No, the title wasn’t click-bait.

We really are offering a free resource package to do with your students to walk them through the goal setting process for the 2024 New Year.

(Just click the red button below to download it right away.)

The problem with these New Year Resolution Goal handouts (and every other worksheet like it) is that it’s a one-off. You do it with your class, and then you’re done.

Very few people (students or teachers) actually review their goals on a regular basis to see if they’re on track.

Most of us won’t think about our New Year Resolution goals again until the end of the year when we have to make a new year’s resolution for 2024.

It’s nothing personal – just human nature. Achieving goals (or anything worth achieving) takes hard work.

• Click here to read about why teachers and parents need to teach their students how to set and achieve goals.
• Or, just click here for a FREE Goal Setting slideshow for Elementary Students, Middle School and High School

Okay. Now back to this post about our completely FREE NEW YEAR’s RESOLUTION 2024 Paragraph Writing Activity!